Device for rotating the cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser

ABSTRACT

The turret is rotatable about a vertical axis and contains a plurality of angularly spaced stacks of cups. The device includes a planetary gearing having a pair of first bevel gears secured to respective substantially vertical coaxial shafts, one driven by a geared motor and the other mounting the turret. The planetary gearing further includes a pair of second bevel gears meshing with the first bevel gears and secured to a substantially horizontal shaft having ends projecting beyond the second bevel gears. An oscillatable eccentric has a projection oscillatable therewith and movable into the path of movement of the projecting ends of the substantially horizontal shaft. This eccentric, responsive to the presence of a stack of cups at a dispensing sump, is restrained to a position in which its projection is out of the path of movement and, when no cups are present at the sump, is released to move its projection into the path of movement of the projecting ends of the substantially horizontal shaft to prevent rotation thereof about the axis of the substantially vertical shafts. Normally, with the projection in its retracted position, the first bevel gear driven by the motor effects idling rotation of the second bevel gears and the horizontal shaft about the axis of the vertical shafts, so that the turret is not rotated. When the projection prevents movement of the horizontal shaft, the first bevel gear secured to the turret shaft is rotated to rotate the turret to position a fresh stack of cups in registry with the dispensing sump. A detent limits angular movement of the turret to a distance equal to the angular spacing between adjacent stacks of cups and, when no more cups are in the turret, a sensing switch opens the operating circuit for the motor and for the beverage dispenser.

imited States Patent [191 Paolucei June 25, 1974 [54] DEVICE FOR ROTATINGVTHE CUP-HOLDER TURRET OF AN AUTOMATIC DISPENSER [76] Inventor: Canzio Paolucci, 47, Via Copernico,

20159 Milano, Italy [22] Filed: Mar. 14, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 341,151

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner-Stanley H. Tollberg Assistant Examiner-Joseph J. Rolla Attorney, Agent, or FirmMcGlew and Tuttle [57] ABSTRACT The turret is rotatable about a vertical axis and contains a plurality of angularly spaced stacks of cups. The device includes a planetary gearing having a pair of first bevel gears secured to respective substantially vertical coaxial shafts, one driven by a geared motor and the other mounting the turret. The planetary gearing further includes a pair of second bevel gears meshing with the first bevel gears and secured to a substantially horizontal shaft having ends projecting beyond the second bevel gears. An oscillatable eccentric has a projection oscillatable therewith and movable into the path of movement of the projecting ends of the substantially horizontal shaft. This eccentric, responsive to the presence of a stack of cups at a dispensing sump, is restrained to a position in which its projection is out of the path of movement and, when no cups are present at the sump, is released to move its projection into the path of movement of the projecting ends of the substantially horizontal shaft to prevent rotation thereof about the axis of the substantially vertical shafts. Normally, with the projection in its retracted position, the first bevel gear driven by the motor effects idling rotation of the second bevel gears and the horizontal shaft about the axis of the vertical shafts, so that the turret is not rotated. When the projection prevents movement of the horizontal shaft, the first bevel gear secured to the turret shaft is rotated to rotate the turret to position a fresh stack of cups in registry with the dispensing sump. A detent limits angular movement of the turret to a distance equal to the angular spacing between adjacent stacks of cups and, when no more cups are in the turret, a sensing switch opens the operating circuit for the motor and for the beverage dispenser.

PATENTEB JUNZSIQH sum 3 BF 5 PATENTEUJUNZSIBH SMEU 5 0F 6 FiG.'7

DEVICE FOR ROTATING THE CUP-HOLDER TURRET OF AN AUTOMATIC DISPENSER FIELD, BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is a device for rotation of the cup-holder turret of a beverage dispenser in cardboard or plastic cups.

It is based simply on the use of a planetary gearing comprising two pairs of bevel gears secured respectively with the shaft driven by the driving shaft of a geared motor per se known, with the shaft of the cupholder turret" and with the shaft (perpendicular with respect to the previous ones) designed to be restrained by an eccentric when the latter is released due to the lack of piled cups.

The device according to the invention represents a substantial improvement in the field since, among other things, it allows free manual rotation in both directions of the cup-holder turret, when it is necessary to renew the supply, and it enables this without the complex and costly one-way clutch used heretofore for this purpose.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view, partly sectioned, of the cupdispenser unit, comprising a geared motor, the device for rotation of the turret, according to the invention and the cup-dispensing device itself;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, of the device for rotation of the cupholder turret according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the device, taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section thereof, taken substantially along the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the cup-holder turret only;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section of the geared motor and the cup separator per se known;

FIG. 6A is a detail, on an enlarged scale, of the microswitch and cam control of the geared motor; and

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the cup-separator shown in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The cardboard or plastic cup supply unit of a beverage automatic dispenser, essentially comprises an electric circuit, per se known, which may be actuated by the introduction of a coin or token in a suitable mechanism, and mechanical equipment actuated by said the circuit.

The mechanical equipment, as may be seen in the drawing (FIG. 1) comprises a portion, per se known, formed by a geared motor M and a cup-separating device S and a device E for rotation of the cup-holding turret.

The device E, according to the invention, essentially comprises as' mentioned above, a planetary gear formed (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) by two pairs of bevel gears 7, 8, 9 respectively secured to shafts 10, ll, 12.

Of the latter, shaft 10 may be rotated by the geared motor 1 through its driving shaft 25, hub 24, gear wheel 23 and gear 22 suitably keyed on shaft 10, while shaft 12 carries turret T and is fast therewith.

Shaft 11, in turn perpendicular to the previous ones terminates at one end with a shank 15 which is engageable by the projection 14 of an eccentric 13 when the latter assumes a raised position (shown in dotted lines b in FIG. 4) which happens every time a column of cups 17 is exhausted, which would otherwise press downwards said eccentric 13 (see full lines a in FIG. 4).

Turret T (FIG. 5) may contain several cup columns 17, however, it preferably contains six columns, as shown in the drawing, each retained by a characteristic outer, cylindrical envelope, open on the side facing the turret periphery.

Every time a cup column 17 is in position on the dispensing sump 16, the known separator device will operate (FIGS. 6 and 7), which device uses the 360.rotating movement of the helix of five spirals 5 for the ejection, on the filling position, of the various cups one by one.

The rotating motion of spirals 5 is imparted, as known, by the geared motor 1 through a pinion 2, a gear 3 and a ring gear 4.

Every time a cup falls down, the cam-microswitch assembly 6 disconnects the geared motor 1 from the electric circuit supply and stops it.

Several cam-microswitch assemblies 6 may be provided, superimposed so as to form an actual timer to control other operations of the beverage dispenser.

A successive switching on of the electric circuit controlling the geared motor 1 will take place, as usual, through the coin mechanism.

As mentioned above, both the device according to the invention, for rotation of the turret and as the cup separator unit are driven by the same geared motor.

The cup dispenser unit provided with the device according to the invention (see FIGS. 3 and 4) includes in addition two other devices: a) a stop pin with springbiased ball 20 to be inserted in a corresponding recess to stop the rotating disk 21 keyed on the turret-carrying shaft 12; and b) a second microswitch 18 (arranged on a lower level and opposed to eccentric l3) wich, with the aid of a spring sensor 19 of hook-shaped structure, may cut the electric circuit, by raising itself (dotted position in FIG. 4) when the turret does not carry any more cups and the edge of same does not press the sensor hook downwards (full-line position in FIG. 4).

From the foregoing, the operation of the device for rotation of the cup-holder turret according to the invention and its features should be clearly understood.

Until a whole or partial cup column 17 is in the dispensing sump 16, shaft 10, driven by the geared motor 1 and fast with the bevel gear 7, rotates, thus rotating bevel gears 8 and shaft 1 1. The eccentric 13 has its projection 14 lowered by the cups themselves and bevel gear 9 and thus disk 21 and shaft 12 carrying the turret are stationary. When a cup column 17 is used up, eccentric 13 raises its projection 14 to retain terminal shank 15 of shaft 11, whereby bevel gears 8 rotate bevel gear 9 and the turret-carrying shaft 12 with it as well as disk 21 which is keyed thereon, through a 60 angle, as seen into the drawing, to convey another column of cups in registry with the dispensing sump 16. At

such a time, the spring-ball pin 20 slightly enters in a suitable recess of disk 21 helping it to come to rest and avoiding vibrations.

When the various cup columns 17 are finally exhausted and the turret has to be filled up once again, the electric circuit is cut when the hook-shaped sensor 19 of the microswitch 18 is raised. The geared motor 1 is then stationery and gears 7, 8 and 9 of the planetary gearing therewith. It will therefore be possible to rotate by hand the cup-holder turret T one way or the other since it is fast only with gear 9 and not with the other gears 7, 8 of the planetary gearing.

When it is considered that the device, according to the invention can replace a heavy and costly apparatus which enabled, being based on the clutch principle, rotation of the turret only in one direction, it will be obvious that with this device a substantial improvement has been achieved.

What we claim is:

l. A device for rotation of a cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser for dispensing beverages in cardboard or plastic cups, in which the turret has a plurality of angularly spaced receptacles for stacks of cups and with the dispenser including a geared motor and a dispensing sump with which the stacks of cups are registered by rotation of the turret, said device comprising, in combination, a planetary gearing including a pair of first bevel gears secured to respective substantially vertical coaxial shafts, one driven by said motor and the other rotating said turret, and a pair of second bevel gears meshing with said first bevel gears and secured to a substantially horizontal shaft having ends projecting beyond said second bevel gears; said first bevel gear driven by said motor normally rotating said second bevel gears and said substantially horizontal shaft about the axis of said substantially vertical shafts without rotating the other said first gear to rotate said turret; and projection means operable, responsive to no cups being present at said sump, to engage a projecting end of said substantially horizontal shaft to prevent rotation of said substantially horizontal shaft about the axis of said substantially vertical shafts; whereby said other first bevel gear is rotated by said second bevel gears to rotate said turret to move a fresh stack of cups to said sump.

2. A device for rotation of the cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser, as claimed in claim 1, in which said projection means comprises an oscillatable eccentric having a projection oscillatable therewith and movable into the path of movement of the projecting ends of said substantially horizontal shaft; said eccentric, responsive to the presence of a stack of cups at said sump, being retained in a position in which its projection is out of such path of movement and, when no cups are present at said sump, being released to move its projection into such path of movement to engage a projecting end of said substantially horizontal shaft to prevent rotation of said substantially horizontal shaft about the axis of said substantially vertical shafts.

3. A device for rotation of the cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser, as claimed in claim 1, including releasable detent means limiting rotation of saidturret by said planetary gearing to an angular distance equal to the angular distance between adjacent stacks of cups in said turret.

4. A device for rotation of the cup-holer turret of an automatic dispenser, as claimed in claim 3, in which said detent means comprises a disk rotatable with said turret and having its periphery formed with recesses having the same angular spacing as the stacks of cups in said turret; and a spring biased pawl detent engageable in said recesses.

5. A device for rotation of the cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser, as claimed in claim 1, including switch means operable, responsive to all of the cups in said turret being dispensed, to interrupt energization of said motor and operation of said dispenser. 

1. A device for rotation of a cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser for dispensing beverages in cardboard or plastic cups, in which the turret has a plurality of angularly spaced receptacles for stacks of cups and with the dispenser including a geared motor and a dispensing sump with which the stacks of cups are registered by rotation of the turret, said device comprising, in combination, a planetary gearing including a pair of first bevel gears secured to respective substantially vertical coaxial shafts, one driven by said motor and the other rotating said turret, and a pair of second bevel gears meshing with said first bevel gears and secured to a substantially horizontal shaft having ends projecting beyond said second bevel gears; said first bevel gear driven by said motor normally rotating said second bevel gears and said substantially horizontal shaft about the axis of said substantially vertical shafts without rotating the other said first gear to rotate said turret; and projection means operable, responsive to no cups being present at said sump, to engage a projecting end of said substantially horizontal shaft to prevent rotation of said substantially horizontal shaft about the axis of said substantially vertical shafts; whereby said other first bevel gear is rotated by said second bevel gears to rotate said turret to move a fresh stack of cups to said sump.
 2. A device for rotation of the cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser, as claimed in claim 1, in which said projection means comprises an oscillatable eccentric having a projection oscillatable therewith and movable into the path of movement of the projecting ends of said substantially horizontal shaft; said eccentric, responsive to the presence of a stack of cups at said sump, being retained in a position in which its projection is out of such path of movement and, when no cups are present at said sump, being released to move its projection into such path of movement to engage a projecting end of said substantially horizontal shaft to prevent rotation of said substantially horizontal shaft about the axis of said substantially vertical shafts.
 3. A device for rotation of the cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser, as claimed in claim 1, including releasable detent means limiting rotation of said turret by said planetary gearing to an angular distance equal to the angular distance between adjacent stacks of cups in said turret.
 4. A device for rotation of the cup-holer turret of an automatic dispensEr, as claimed in claim 3, in which said detent means comprises a disk rotatable with said turret and having its periphery formed with recesses having the same angular spacing as the stacks of cups in said turret; and a spring biased pawl detent engageable in said recesses.
 5. A device for rotation of the cup-holder turret of an automatic dispenser, as claimed in claim 1, including switch means operable, responsive to all of the cups in said turret being dispensed, to interrupt energization of said motor and operation of said dispenser. 